For some time I've had a fascination with deception and fraud — how and why misinformation is spread, intentionally or not; why people believe readily-disproved stories; why convoluted conspiracy theories often seem more attractive than simpler explanations.

Steve suggested that in order to talk about what is not science, I needed to first define what is science. So, here goes.

Karl Popper suggests that scientists should try to find evidence that will conflict with or disprove their theories. A theory with no possibility of being proved false is not a scientific theory.

Is Evolution Science, and What Does 'Science' Mean? John Wilkins, 1997.
"Summary: Science is not a simple process of falsification of hypotheses. The philosophy of science is not just the views of Popper, which have some real problems. Evolution can be falsified in the usual meaning in scientific practice."

Piltdown Hoax
...above all, the Piltdown forgery demonstrates the fallibility of scientific knowledge. It demonstrates, too, the way theories and facts are related in science. Theories are the filters through which facts are interpreted (Popper).